The present invention relates generally to building materials, and more particularly to seals between a foundation and a house frame.
Modern homebuilders are continually trying to make new homes as energy efficient as possible. Improving a home""s airtight seal can greatly reduce the heating and air-conditioning costs for a home. When a home is built, there are often small gaps around windows and doors through which air and moisture can pass. Applying building tape to these gaps in the building is a common practice that greatly increases a home""s energy efficiency. The building tape creates an air and moisture barrier at the junction between a building""s walls and doors or windows to make the home more airtight.
The foundation of a home is usually constructed of either poured concrete or concrete blocks. Many builders prefer to use a poured concrete foundation because of its superior strength qualities, as compared to a concrete block foundation. However, poured concrete shrinks as it dries and often settles unevenly. Because of these problems, the top edge of a foundation is usually an uneven, irregular surface.
The wooden floor deck of a home is supported on the top edge of the foundation. A sill plate is the lowest portion of the floor deck that usually lies on the foundation. The wooden sill plate will often warp or rot as it is exposed to moisture. Large gaps can be created between the foundation and the sill plate as the concrete foundation dries and settles and the wooden sill plate warps.
It is known to place a sill plate sealer between the foundation and the floor deck. A standard sill plate sealer is a foam piece that is approximately 0.25 inches thick, but the gap created between the foundation and the sill plate is often more than 0.25 inches. Air and moisture can still pass through this gap to lower the home""s energy efficiency and rot the wooden sill plate. Therefore, it is desirable to have a product that creates an improved seal between a foundation and a sill plate that can close larger gaps.
The present invention is a foundation seal that creates an air and moisture barrier and preferably seals the joint between a home foundation and the wooden floor deck of a home. The foundation seal is preferably T-shaped and includes a foam strip and a flexible membrane. The membrane is preferably attached to the edge of the foam strip to create a T-shape when viewed from the end of the foundation seal.
The foam strip is preferably made from a lightweight polyethylene foam, or similar type foam. The foam strip is preferably a flat, elongated member with an upper surface, a lower surface, an interior edge, and an exterior edge. The lower structure of the strip is provided with an adhesive coating which is covered by a release strip to prevent the strip lower surface from prematurely adhering to any element before the strip is installed. The membrane is a flexible strip with an inner face and an outer face. The inner face preferably has a peel and stick adhesive coating, and is bonded to the exterior edge of the foam strip. The outer face has a non-adhesive backing so that only the inner face is tacky. A release liner is placed on the exposed tacky portion of the adhesive inner face to prevent the membrane from adhering to anything before application of the seal.
The foundation seal is installed at the joint of the foundation/slab and the floor deck, mud sill, sill plate or wall plate. The release liner is removed from the adhesive lower surface of the strip so that the foam strip can be attached to the top edge of the concrete. The foam strip is placed between the foundation and the floor deck, mud sill, sill plate or wall plate so that the tacky inner face of the membrane is aligned with the outer surface of the foundation and the floor deck, mud sill, sill plate or wall plate. The release liner is removed from the tacky portion of the membrane, and the adhesive on the inner face is applied to both the foundation and floor deck, mud sill, sill plate or wall plate. The seal preferably adheres immediately. The peel and stick adhesive membrane will preferably not deteriorate during the life of the structure, and adheres to concrete, foam, metal, masonry block, vinyl, wood and other similar materials.
After the foundation seal is applied, the foam strip and membrane combine to create a seal that eliminates virtually any air or moisture infiltration between the foundation and floor deck, mud sill, sill plate or wall plate. The present invention closes gaps between the foundation/slab and wood frame construction that normally develop as the foundation shrinks or settles, and the floor deck warps. Since the flexible membrane adheres to the foundation and floor deck, mud sill, sill plate or wall plate, it can maintain a seal even after shrinking, settling, or warping causes the foundation and floor deck to separate. The present invention can also seal gaps that are larger than the thickness of the foam strip. This seal preferably increases the energy efficiency of a home and reduces heating and cooling costs.
The invention further contemplates a foundation seal comprised of a foam strip having one protectively covered adhesive surface for adherence to one surface between adjacent building elements or to one building element itself.